1:00 It Fell from the Sky: Abbott Zoned Incised and its connections to the ritual of feasting during the Middle Woodland Period Presented by: Gregory D. Lattanzi, New Jersey State Museum; R. Michael Stewart, Temple University; and George Pevarnik,Temple University

1:30 From Fossils to Fortresses: Archaeology in India Presented by Suzanne Harris, University of Pennsylvania

2:00 Old Rag Archaeology: Experimentation and Excavation Presented by Jack Cresson, Archaeological Society of New Jersey

Thursday, August 4, 2011

The Old Barracks Museum, one of Trenton's most compelling Rev. War sites and an organization that has been a friend to archaeology and the ASNJ, has lost its state finding.

http://www.barracks.org/about/gov_christie_alert_03.html

We are asking ASNJ members and friends to please join as a member ($40.00 andup), make a donation, write your legislator, or just visit to help preserve thisimportant site. We'll post more about what else the ASNJ is doing soon.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

This Saturday is our annual field day. We will be working at White Hill Mansion in Fieldsboro, 217 4th street from 9:00-4:00. Work to date by Monmouth University's Archaeological Field School has revealed the foundations of several outbuildings and a rich assortment of 18th and 19th century artifacts. There is also a significant prehistoric occupation. Hope to see you soon.

The Museum is located at 100 2nd Avenue in Roebling, NJ. It is readily accessible from the Riverline. The museum is located a mere 1000 from the Roebling stop of the train, and is the building on the huge parklike lot with the giant wheel that is located right next to the train stop. If you are traveling by vehicle, the museum can be reached by traveling on Rt. 130 and turning West at Hornberger Avenue. You travel just over ¼ mile and cross over the railroad tracks, past the train station and 2nd Avenue is immediately in front of you. The Museum is 500 feet down the street and the only building on the right side of the street. However, there is access to a parking lot right at the railroad tracks. You need to drive past the back of the train station and follow the signs further back to the Museum parking area.

If you are using Rt. 295, then you use exit 52, then you head west towards Florence. You travel 2 miles until you reach Rt. 130. At the light, you make a right turn and head north and travel ¾ of a mile to the next light, which is Hornberger Avenue. Make a left turn here and follow the same directions to the Museum.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Please come visit with us at this fair. We'll have a table and displays of artifacts. If you would like to volunteer some time at the table, contact Rich (rveit@Monmouth.edu). Note change in venue from Washington's crossing...

SPIRIT of the JERSEYS State History FairSaturday May 7, 201111 a.m. - 5 p.m.Historic Village at Allaire - Allaire State ParkFarmingdale, NJ 07727(732) 919-3500

Free AdmissionAllaire Village Inc. is requesting a $5 per car Parking Donation Rain or ShineThe Spirit is Back!

Experience five centuries of New Jersey’s history all in one place at the SPIRIT of the JERSEYS - a historical festival for all ages on Saturday, May 7 at the Historic Village at Allaire, Allaire State Park in Farmingdale.

This free event, which runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., rain or shine, drew 6,000 visitors in 2009. Now in its seventh year, the Fair is a fun-filled adventure into New Jersey’s past with:

New this year, visitors can meet Benjamin Franklin; sit for a silhouette image; watch a 19th century tinsmith; attend Maria Allaire’s wedding; learn about the Hindenburg, watch an old-time baseball game, and chat with Civil War soldiers!

There are plenty of hands-on activities for kids and adults, from learning the art of paper marbling to participating in historical games; to plowing a furrow and inventing a working phonograph. Children can learn about the women’s’ movement by playing NJ Women Bingo or suffragist dress-up at the Alice Paul Institute booth. Get the whole family together for a colonial photoshoot with the Burlington County Historical Society. For literary fans, Darrel Ford of Babylon, NY will portray one of America’s greatest poets, Walt Whitman.

As you stroll through the Village listen to musical performances by "The Practitioners of Musick', an 18th century musical group, and dulcimer player Bonnie Leigh. Or, see a hands-on demonstration of WWII radio equipment. Investigate the truth behind paranormal claims with the Shore Paranormal Research Society. Watch the Flemington Neshanock Baseball Club re-create an 1864 baseball game!

There will be over 100 historical organizations and museums, re-enactors, authors, performers and living history demonstrators exhibiting at this year's SPIRIT of the JERSEYS State History Fair! Bring the entire family for a day of fun & learning!

The Fair is sponsored by Allaire Village, Inc. and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Office of Historic Sites, Division of Parks and Forestry.

Allaire Village, Incorporated is licensed by the State of New Jersey to operate the 40-acre, Historic Village at Allaire, the site of James P. Allaire's Howell Iron Works Company in the 1830’s. Throughout the year, Allaire Village, Incorporated is able to present many fine-quality educational and interpretive programs. These programs are made possible by the support of private donations, membership fees, fund-raising events, admission fees, and patronage of our General Store and Bakery.

Allaire Village, Inc. received an operating support grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State. In addition, funding for our historical events is made possible in part to a generous grant from the Ocean First Foundation.

The Historic Village at Allaire is located in Allaire State Park on Route 524/4265 Atlantic Avenue, in Farmingdale, Monmouth County, NJ, off Exit 98 of the Garden State Parkway and off Exit 31B of Interstate 195. For more information, contact the Allaire Village office during business hours, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., at 732-919-3500 or visit our web site, at www.allairevillage.org.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Saturday, May 7th, the Spirit of the Jerseys State History Fair will be held at Allaire State Park. It runs from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM. The ASNJ will have a table. Feel free to drop by and chat. If you would like to volunteer to help man the table for a two hour shift please contact Rich Veit at rveit@monmouth.edu.

Coming Full Circle at George Mason's Gunston HallWendy Miervaldis and Claudia Wendling

Gunston Hall, the home of George Mason, holds many mysteries, including how exactly carriages would approach the land side entrance of the mansion. Almost sixty years of archaeological excavations have revealed precious little information. In light of this, influences on Mason at the time he built Gunston Hall have been researched. Plantations he lived in and those belonging to relatives, friends, and associates have been studied. Literature available in the colonies at the time of Gunston Hall's construction has been reviewed. The plantations he designed for his sons, as well as the plantation built by one son after Mason's death, have been examined for clues. A possible plan for the carriage circle, based on this research and existing archaeological evidence, is presented.

The Power of Choice: Reflections of Economic Ability, Status, and Ethnicity in the Foodways of a Free Black Family in Northwestern New JerseyMegan E. Springate and Amy K. Raes

The study of foodways includes looking at what people ate, where they got it, how they prepared it, and how they ate it. In addition to sustenance, what and how people eat also reflect identity (including ethnicity and status) and consumer choice. In this paper we explore these issues through the lens of archaeological excavations conducted within a free black household in Sussex County, New Jersey. Four generations of the Mann family owned and occupied a small house in Sussex Borough from 1862 to 1909. Analysis of the archaeological resources indicates a dramatic shift in the family's social status in the late nineteenth century. A comparison of the faunal remains, tablewares, and food preparation vessels with other contemporary sites in the Mid-Atlantic reveals variations in these assemblages, contrary to models that have generally been proposed for free black sites. The foodways assemblage is also discussed in relation to the changing status negotiations of the Mann family as understood by both white and black communities.

The Warner Farm collections have preserved evidence from a site now lost to further study as the site was destroyed by a housing development; an all too common event in New Jersey. Dick Regensburg, Jack Cresson, and Tony Bonfiglio were invited by the Warner family to perform systematic surface collecting in the early 1970s. Regensburg sifted ashes to retrieve the Warner Family artifact collection after their farmhouse burned to the ground -- hence the title of this talk. Artifacts from the Regensburg and Cresson collections, plus notes by the late Raymond Powell from Medford, NJ, were used in this analysis. These materials were cataloged and entered into an Access database. The Warner Farm site yielded artifacts throughout New Jersey Prehistory, from Paleoindian to European contact. We found notable the number of Early Archaic bifurcate points, and in particular a large number of datable artifact types from the Late Archaic through Early Woodland times.

The site is located on the Pemberton Soil Series which are infertile, well-drained aeolian sands, along the North Branch, Pensauken Creek, about 10 miles east of the Delaware River and 4 miles west of the Pine Barrens. The site would have favored an open pine forest. Nearby however, lie fertile, marl-rich soils with a mixed hickory-oak-beech forest today. Such a forest would have been a rich resource base for food and plant raw materials. A swamp to the south once may have been open water for fish and waterfowl. Lithics on site are limited to quartz and chert gravel and pebbles; much of the lithics analyzed were imported. Quartzites came from nearby cuesta mounds but also from Delaware River cobbles; and jaspers, cherts, igneous and metamorphosed rock from much further distances. This study illustrates the value of carefully documented private artifact collections in reconstructing New Jersey's past.

Newark's Iron CoffinsScott Warnasch and Michael Audin

Excavation of the First Presbyterian Church Cemetery in downtown Newark revealed many surprises, including two mid-19th century mummiform burial cases. These "iron coffins" were designed to resembled Egyptian-style sarcophagi draped with a burial cloth and cloak. The two coffins are early examples of a mass-produced mortuary product that evolved stylistically throughout the 19th century. These objects and the changes in design over the subsequent decades reflect shifting attitudes about death, status, and style during the nascent period of the mortuary industry.

This presentation will provide general background information on the cemetery site and excavation, as well as an overview of the iron coffin industry, beginning in the late 1840s. Discussion will address how advances in technology, transportation, and the expansion of geography and commerce, as well as changing attitudes about death and disease, resulted in these unique objects.

Archaeological Investigations at the Gully Site (28-Mo-351): A Prehistoric Camp in Central New JerseyJessey Walker

The Gully Site (28-Mo-351) is a multi-component prehistoric camp situated in the northern New Jersey Coastal Plain. Phase IB/II/III investigations identified ten prehistoric features and recovered 7,758 lithics, 13 prehistoric pottery sherds, 37 pieces of calcined bone, carbonized plant remains, and starch grains. Ten AMS dates combined with the analysis of the diagnostic artifacts determined that the occupations date primarily from the Late Archaic to the Early Woodland periods. Ephemeral Middle/Late Woodland period occupations were also encountered. The chipped stone assemblage is dominated by argillite indicating that settlement patterns during the Late Archaic and the Early Woodland periods encompassed the Piedmont and/or Delaware River. Macrobotanical and starch grain analysis documented the importance of mast resources and the utilization of wild grasses, berries, and geophytes. Maize starch grains were also recovered from a stone tool. A summary of the investigations will be presented and regional comparisons will be explored.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

On May 21st, the ASNJ will be meeting at historic Roebling Village in Burlington County, New Jersey. There will be an executive board meeting beginning at 11:00. The presentations begin at 1:00. Mark your calendars!

Saturday, March 26, 2011

An Afternoon of History & Archaeology

Saturday • March 26, 2011 • 12 pm
East Jersey Olde Towne VillageEast Jersey Olde Towne Village will host an afternoon of history and archaeology. The symposium consists of four presentations by the Archaeological Society of New Jersey including a display of recently unearthed artifacts from four archaeological sites in central New Jersey. In addition, tours of the historic Cornelius Low House/Middlesex County Museum will be offered.

12:00 pm – Tour of the Cornelius Low House (Optional)

1:00 pm – Lecture Series, East Jersey Olde Towne Village. Each presentation is 30 minutes, with a short break after the second lecture.

Piscataway Village: Land Use and Town Planning in 17th Century New Jersey, presented by Michael J. Gall

The Musket Balls Flew Like a Shower of Hail Stones: Historical Archaeology of the Battle of Short Hills, presented by Wade Catts and Brooke Blades, John Milner Associates, Inc.

Forensic Anthropology and the Mysterious Skull of Count Von Donop, presented by Richard Veit, Amy Raes and Kayla SteinbachFor more information and to register for this free program, please call 732.745.3030.